Tonight I was reminded of this quote. And I started thinking about seriousness. In my serious frame of mind, I devised a serious system for rating the seriousness of things around me. 10 for the most serious. 1 for the least serious. (I give this system a 9.) I found very serious books on my bookshelf. several 10s. quite a few 8s. The 1s were few and far between. I was then determined to alleviate this serious problem by choosing the least serious author from my shelf and reading a few unserious passages. "Perhaps the unseriousness will wear off on me," I seriously reasoned. I sat on the floor and read. Walt Whitman asked:

Have you reckon'd a thousand acres much? have you reckon'd the earth much?Have you practis'd so long to learn to read?Have you felt so proud to get at the meaning of poems?